Shoe engaging pads for shoe presses



Dec. 15, 1959 G. c. RALPHS ET AL SHOE ENGAGING PADS FOR SHOE PRESSES 2 Sheets-Sheet ,1

Filed May 2, 1958 hi4 Q Q Dec. 15, 1959 G. c. RALPHS ETAL SHOE ENGAGING PADS FOR SHOE PRESSES 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed May 2, 1958 vF/G4. 42

F/GS.

Inventors 9 2%:

I By G 1 I Attorney 2,916,750 sHon ENGAGING PAns FOR SHOE PRESSES George Cecil Ralphs, Leicester, and George Trevor Ralphs, Oadby, England Application May 2, 1958, Serial No. 732,747

Claims. (Cl. 12-38) This invention is for improvements in or relating to shoe engaging pads for shoe presses, the term shoe being used herein generically to include all forms of outer footwear. In the construction of certain forms of shoes and particularly those provided with Louis heels it is a common practice to have a portion of the outer sole extended down the front face of the shoe heel and secured thereto. This extension piece, often referred to as a heel flap, has in the past usually been provided by splitting the substance of the outer sole along its heelward portion to provide a relatively thin flap which may be secured by an adhesive to the front face of the heel and a tongue which is fitted to the shoe within the heel seat area. Heretofore it has been normal to secure the main body of the sole to the shoe bottom'and heel seat before the heel is attached and to fix the heel flap to the front face of the heel at a later operation. The invention has for an object to provide a shoe pressing pad by the use of which a shoe sole and heel flap thereon may be attached simultaneously with the aid of adhesive to the shoe bottom and the front face of the heel. An economy in the number of operations to be performed is thereby secured.

In accordance with the invention there is provided a shoe bottom engaging pad assembly for use, in applying bottom pressure to a shoe with an attached heel and having its pads supported withits heelward end portion offset angularly about a transverse line of flexure from the remainder of the pad and with provision for flexing of the pad about another transverse line displaced toewardly from the line of angular offsetting, whereby the heelward part of the pad can be presented to the heel breast face of the shoe whilst the remainder of the pad is presented to the bottom of the forepart and shank of the shoe. Conveniently the'pad is formed by a fluid containing bag. The padassembly desirably has means for adjusting the degree of flexure of the pad about said transverse flexure line orlines and forretaining the pad in a desired setting.

As applied to a pad construction onto which a shoe is adapted: to be placed bottom downwards the pad conveniently comprises a heel end part which is mounted in upstanding attitude and intermediate and toe end parts extending forwardlyat about the same general level from the uppermost portion of the heel end part, the three parts being connected at transverse flexure locations. The means provided to vary the degree of flexure at the flexure locations may operate by raising and lowering the inter-- mediate parts of the pad at its juncture with the toe end part in the neighbourhood of the forward transverse flexure location. Such flexure adjustment is of course for the purpose of'adjusting the pad to suit shoes having different heel heights.

In a preferred construction there are provided upper and lower stiffeners between which the pad is supported marginally substantially around its contour the stitfeners being interrupted in the neighbourhood of the transverse lines of flexure.

By the use of a pad construction in accordance with the invention outer soles and their heel flaps may be attached at one and the same operation to shoes to which heels have already been applied. Attachment is effected under pressure with the aid of adhesive, the toeward and shank portions of the sole being pressed against the shoe bottom at the same time as the heel flap is pressed against the front face of the heel of the shoe. Conveniently the heelward end of the pad is mounted in a relatively fixed position, or depends from a fixed pivot, while the toe end part rests on a bearing permitting some fore and aft movement of such parts the relative angular positions of the intermediate and toeward parts of the pad being determined by the pad supporting means (e.g. the stii'feners) bearing on an adjustable abutment in the neighbourhood of the more toeward transverse flexure location.

'In carrying out the invention the pad assembly may comprise a bag formed by two flexible sheets e.g. of rub ber superimposed and clamped together marginally between stiffeners which are divided to define the transverse flexure locations, one sheet being provided with an inlet tube to permit fluid under pressure to be forced into the space between the sheets. The stiffener on the under side of the toeward end of the bag may be of shallow trough form and this stiffener and the stiifeners of other sections of the bag may'constitute means whereby the pad assembly is mounted in position. The upper stiffeners may be sheet being retained on the assembly by inwardly flanged retaining members on the strip-like stiifeners. The provision of such loosely mounted sheet will serve to concentrate the pressure of the bag when inflated on the area of the bottom of the shoe and front face of the heel and resist tendency for bulging of the pad around the edges of the shoe contour.

A preferred form of the shoe bottom engaging pad as mounted on a shoe press is illustrated by way of example in the accompanying drawings in which Figure 1 is a perspective view of the pad and its mounting looking somewhat downwardly thereon;

Figure 2 isa side elevation of the parts shown in Fig. 1;

Figure 3 is an enlarged view in side elevation and partly in cross section of certain of the parts shown in Fig. 2, and

Figures 4 and 5 are respectively a plan view and side elevation of a shaped shoe engaging sheet which may be loosely mounted on top of the pad.

In Figs. l and 2 of the drawings the pad assembly is shown as being mounted on the base plate or table 10 of a press and" the assembly comprises a bottom plate 11 and a top plate 12 supported at intervals by, studs 13 from the plate 11. On the top plate is mounted the pad proper indicated at 14 and comprising a toeward section 15, a shank section 16 and a heelward section 17, the main supports of the pad being a post 18 upstanding at a forward; position from the plate 12 and two rearward side braekets 19 also mounted on the plate 12. The pad proper is constructed as a bag generally similarly to the pad described in British specification Nos. 747,854 and 27,326/56 having two layers of flexible material such as rubber composition united around their edges and supported marginally between clamping members, there being means for inflating the bag by supplying air under pressure between the two flexible layers through a nozzle 53 on the heelward part 17 or other part of the pad. As in the earlier constructions just referred to the toeward section 15, shank section 16 and heelward section 17 of the pad are so mounted by suitable division of the marginal clamping means as to permit the pad to fiex along two transverse lines of fiexure between the sections of the pad. In the present construction however the heelward section 17 of the pad is olfsetfrom the remainderof the padto enable it to be presented to the heel breast face of a shoe applied to the pad with an already attached heel. The offsetting may be such as to cause the heelward portion 17 as viewed in side elevation to be offset at an angle of about 90 or at an acute angle to the general plane of the top of the remainder of the pad.

More specifically the pad structure comprises at its forward end a horse-shoe shaped clamping member 20 and a lower clamping member 21 of trough-like form and of the same outline between which clamping members the forward margin of the inflatable bag formed the super-posed flexible layers is held; while the heelward part of the pad has the margins of the bag clamped between a plate 22 and a flattened horse-shoe like clamping member 23. The margins of the intermediate or shank portion 16 of the inflatable bag are clamped between over hanging ledges 24 on pivot plates 25 and underneath clamping strips 26 preferably with insertion of rubber wedges 27. The plates 25 have extending from their outer faces pivot pins 28 which are mounted co-axially in bearing apertures in the upstanding brackets 19, thereby defining the transverse line about which the part 17 of the bag is angularly offset from the remainder thereof and about which the bag can flex. The pad is supported rearwardly by the pins 28 engaging in the brackets 19 and at its forward end by the post 18 which carries at its upper end a pin or roller to engage with a slideway 29 fixed to the underside of clamping member 21, which slideway engages with the pin or roller so as to pivot thereon with freedom for fore and aft sliding movement. The setting of the pad can be adjusted by raising and lowering the rear end of the forward section 15 of the pad by means of a link 30 engaging by a pin and slot connection with a depending plate 31 secured to the bottom of the rearward part of the clamping member 21.

The link 30 is raised by a screw adjustment operated by a hand wheel 32 mounted between the plates 11 and 12 with part of its periphery projecting for manipulation. The mechanism for raising and lowering link 30 from hand wheel 32 is substantially the same as described in specification No. 27,326/56. Desirably the hand wheel 32 operates a chain to a straight stretch of which a pointer 33 is attached so as to cause the pointer to move along a scale 34 by which the particular adjustment setting is indicated. The angular setting of the rear portion 17 of the pad is also adjustable, its adjustment being effected by means of a slidable strap 35 through a slot 36 in which a clamping screw 37 passes for securing the strap in adjusted setting. The rear end of the strap 35 carries an upstanding forked end piece 38 engaging around a rod 39 extending transversely from the bottom of the rear portion 17 of the pad, the rod 39 being fixed to a block 40 secured to the clamping plate 22. Thus the strap 35 is moved endwise the angularity of the rear portion 17 of the pad in relation to the remainder of the pad may be varied, the parts being retained in a chosen setting by tightening the clamping screw 37 on to the strap 35. Conveniently a setting scale 40 is provided on the exposed side of the strap 35 to co-operate with a stationary indicator pointer 41.

In the preferred form of the pad as illustrated the inflatable bag has supported above it a flexible shoe bottom engaging sheet shaped to the general form of the pad, this sheet being shown separately in Figs. 4 and and indicated by the reference numeral 42. The sheet 42 is loosely retained on the pad by means of an upper plate 43 of horse-shoe shape at the toeward end, this plate being provided with quick release latches 44 of turn-button type to engage under the heads of screws projecting upwardly from the clamping means. A similar retaining plate 45 is provided at the heelward end of the pad. The sheet 42 functions in like manner to the similar sheet referred to by the numeral 28 in specification No. 27,326/56. The sheet 42 is recessed at 46 to clear the clamping means of the intermediate part of the pad and its heelward part 47 is fitted with a rigid masking plate 48 which may be embedded within its thickness to resist any bulging of the pad around the bottom of the heel of a shoe when applied to the pad. Preferably the forward part of the shaped sheet 42 is thickened as indicated at 49 while the shank portion 50 and the heel portion 47 are substantially thinner to permit the rearward part of the sheet to conform to the angular setting of the pad and to permit some desirable bulging of the bag at the sides of the shank of a shoe during a pressing operation.

It will be seen particularly from Figs. 2 and 3 that the pad illustrated is particularly adapted for performing shoe bottom pressing operations for attachment of soles to shoes to which heels have already been applied and especially to ladies shoes having Louis heels. In the drawings a shoe S is shown in position on the pad having a Louis heel H already attached to it with the fore part and shank of the shoe bottom presented to the portions 15 and 16 of the pad and with the breast of the heel H presented to the angularly offset portion 17 of the pad. In practice the pad has its sections adjusted in the manner already indicated to conform approximately to the bottom contour of the fore part and shank of the particular shoe to be operated on and with the heelward part 17 of the pad adjusted angularly to suit the line of the heel breast of the shoe as seen in side elevation. A shoe with a sole including a flap to lie against the heel breast temporarily attached in appropriate position is placed on the pad and is clamped in position by means of a jack comprising toe and heel engaging members 51 and 52 constructed for example as described in British specification No. 111/58 and the bag is then inflated through the nozzle 53 to apply the working pressure for attachment of the sole to the shoe. It is an advantage to have the depending heelward part 17 of the pad so positioned that it'has only a slight clearance from the plate 12 suflicient to permit its singular adjustment when not under pressure. This slight clearance is taken up when the clamping pressure is applied thus causing the plate 45 to engage with the plate 10 and on the application of the working pressure this engagement prevents the force applied to the heelward part 17 of the pad from altering its angular setting.

In order to avoid undesired stresses on the heel H of the shoe it is very desirable to provide a heel clamp which may consist of a pad 54 shaped to the approximate contour of the back of the heel and comprising a rigid shaped block 55 secured to a backbone plate 56 and fitted with a yieldable pad 57 of rubber or the like with a covering 58 of sheet leather for engagement with the shoe heel. The heel pad 54 is pivoted to an actuating lever 59 of angular form by means of laterally projecting aligned pivot pins 60 on the back-bone plate 56 engaging in heightwise slots 61 in the two spaced arms of lever 59, the latter being pivoted at 62 between bearing brackets 63 mounted on plate 12. Springs 64 are provided to engage with pivot pins 60 to urge them to the top of slot 61 and normally retain the heel pad 54 in raised position, while permitting it to move downwardly to the extent permitted by the slots 61. The lower portion of pad 54 has its angular swing limited by stop screws 65 on the lever 59 engaging with the under surface 66 of the member 55. The actuating lever 59 has the free ends of its spaced arms anchored to a collar 67 carried by the piston rod 68 of a fluid pressure operated cylinder 69 pivotally anchored at 70 between bearing plates 71 mounted on the bottom plate 11.

For adjustment purposes the collar 67 is carried be tween flanges or other abutments on the sleeve of an adjusting knob 72 which can turn freely within it while restraining the collar against endwise movement on the piston rod 68, the knob 72 and its sleeve having screw threaded engagement with the piston rod for adjustment therealong. The fluid pressure operated cylinder 69 of the heel clamp is conveniently a pneumatic cylinder which may be energised in timed relationship to the operation of the shoe clamping jack or separately controlled by a manually operable lever or treadle.

When a shoe is placed in position on'the pad the heel clamp is then energised to rock the lever 59 counter clockwise so as to urge the pad 54- against the back of the heel of the shoe, the mounting of the pad permitting it to have any yieldable heightwise movement and rocking movement required to enable it to engage snugly with the heel H and maintain such engagement during application of clamping pressure from above. The working pressure is then applied to attach a sole to the shoe and any tendency to press the heel H backwardly is resisted by the pad 54 which is permitted to slip downwardly to any required extent.

What We claim is:

1. In or for a shoe press, a pad assembly comprising a mounting plate, a shoe bottom engaging pad, means mounting said pad on said mounting plate to cause it to present an upwardly directed pressing surface having two transverse lines of flexure interposed respectively between toe and heel end parts of the pad and central shank part of the pad, said mounting means comprising a fulcrum on which the toe and part of the pad can ride fore and aft and pivots at the'sides of the pad substantially aligned with the flexure line between the shank and heel parts of the pad whereby the heel part of the pad extends downwardly from said pivots to present an endwise directed pressing surface, and means for retaining the heel end part of the pad in a desired angular setting.

2. A pad assembly according to claim 1 having said pivots of the mounting means so positioned that the heel end part of the pad depends therefrom with its lower end close to the mounting plate whereby when pressure is applied to a shoe on the pad such lower end of the heel part is caused to bind against the mounting plate.

3. A pad assembly according to claim 1 comprising ,a heel clamp and means movably mounting the heel clamp on the mounting plate to adapt it to be engaged with the back of a heel of a shoe on the pad and hold the heel firmly against the heel part of the pad, said clamp mounting means permitting the heel clamp to yield heightwise to accommodate movement of the shoe when under working pressure.

4. A pad assembly according to claim 3 wherein said clamp mounting means comprise a heel clamp carrier extending upwardly from the mounting plate, means pivoting said carrier to the mounting plate to swing towards and away frorn the heel end of the pad, a pin and slot connection mounting the heel clamp on the carrier for rocking and heightwise bodily movement, the axis of pivoting of the heel clamp to its carrier being approximately parallel to and in vertical alignment with the axis of pivoting of the carrier to the mounting plate, and resilient means urging the heel clamp upwardly with respect to the carrier.

5. A pad assembly according to claim 4 comprising an offset extension on the said carrier and a fluid pressure operated device coupled to said extension and adapted to rock the carrier to apply clamping pressure to the heel clamp.

FOREIGN PATENTS;

747,854 Great Britain Apr. 18, 1956 Gulbrandsen Jan. 6, 1953 

